Ottawa Senators

Game Day: Senators @ Flyers - Get back on track
March 28, 2017, 10:54 AM ET [13 Comments]
Jared Crozier
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Putting Saturday's debacle behind them will be the object of the day as the Senators continue their five day road trip with stop #2 in the City of Brotherly Love.

The Flyers are clinging to the faintest of playoff hopes, trailing Boston by six points with seven games remaining and four teams to pass. You would have to think that for them to have any chance, they cannot afford to drop another point in the standings. In my mind, once you have more points to make up than games remaining, you are essentially done because you then need so much help from others to make it in.

While the Flyers should be a desperate team, for the Senators it is all about the process rather than the result. The game against Montreal was not a good one, and win or lose they need to play their game and execute the game plan much better.

The biggest cause for concern seems to be the special teams play. The power play has dropped to 22nd in the league, and their penalty kill has tumbled to 17th, just barely over 80%. When you add power play and penalty kill percentages together, 100% would be average, and Ottawa is now 98.3%. The PK has been especially bad over the last 7 games, getting scored on almost one out of every 3 opponent chances (7 for 22). That simply cannot continue because until some players start scoring more consistently, the Senators can't outgun teams if they give away free goals on special teams.

The Senators need to score goals to win, something they haven't done with enough regularity of late (7 goals in last 11 games) and this game could provide an opportunity for a breakout game, as the Flyers have allowed the second most goals in the Eastern Conference.

The teams have split their pair of matchups so far this season, with both games ending up 3-2 and requiring extra time. Ottawa won in a shootout in Philadelphia mid-November, while the Flyers returned the favor in Ottawa with an OT win a couple of weeks later.

Kyle Turris has 3 points in the two games, while Mark Stone is the only other Senator with multiple points, while on the flipside it is Claude Giroux (2 goals) and Jakub Voracek (2 assists) that lead the way for the Flyers in the season series. Steve Mason played both games for the Flyers, while Craig Anderson got the win and Mike Condon took the OTL for the Senators.